Georgian presidential ejection

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Published time: May 20, 2010 09:55
Edited time: May 21, 2010 23:03

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Georgia, Protest, Saakashvili, Scandal

Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili has reportedly decided to improve his own security by installing an ejector seat in his private plane.

The opposition Labor Party of Georgia is angry at what it sees as the lavish use of state funds. The party’s secretary general, Iosif Shatberashvili, announced at a press conference that the Georgian president has not only used state funds to buy a Bombardier Challenger aircraft (about US$56 million), but also equipped it with a personal ejection escape system (about US$7 million) out of concern for his own safety.

The opposition leader believes that the purchase was made after the terrible air crash of Polish official delegation near Russia’s Smolensk, which killed practically all of Poland’s high-ranking civil and military officials, including Polish President Lech KaczyÃ…â€žski and his wife.

Shatberashvili recalled that earlier, Saakashvili had promised to use ordinary flights to move around.

Having criticized the president's unconventional plans, the opposition called on the people of Georgia to boycott the local elections on May 30, and promised to hold a protest rally on May 21 in the center of the capital, Tbilisi.

Meanwhile, according to Georgia’s Public Service Bureau, in 2009, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili earned 53,000 lari (about US$33,000).

Comments (5)

James Swapan Peris 21.05.2010 11:58

No man is immortal as Saakashvili. Everyone of us have to die.Can that man stop his death from anything else? He can die anytime for any reason.We don't know when we will die.We can stop one hole but there could be another hole to take us.I think this man Saakashvili absolutely mad.He became out of control since Obama been elected,because His (god)fathers no more in power in there.

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MEJanssen 21.05.2010 02:41

What a great idea. We keep trying to do something like that in USA, but it should be in Congress and we need about 500 of them.

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Kihnu 20.05.2010 14:12

Not a good idea since Saakashvili is know to be paranoid and subject to bouts of hysteria. I can imagine such a scenario on a plane where Saakashvili is strapped to an ejection seat: Whooss!!! Pilot: "What the hell was that??" Co-pilot: "That's our president going through the ceiling".

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